Tech

Tokyo, Japan - Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have discovered a new way of controlling the drying patterns formed by re-crystallizing salt. They found that the coffee ring effect can be used to pin the edge of drying droplets, creating a range of different geometric patterns. The same principles may be applied to understand and improve the adhesion of printer ink to surfaces and the manufacture of film-based devices.

Anyone who has visited the beach this summer would have felt large chunks of salt form on their skin after a splash in the sea. These large, crystalline chunks are formed by re-crystallization as the sea water dries off and leaves the salt behind. The drying of salt solution is actually a very complex phenomenon involving the interplay of many variables, including concentration and density profiles, heat transfer, as well as a wide range of environmental factors such as temperature and humidity. Understanding and controlling the mechanisms behind re-crystallization is crucial to understanding drying-related industrial processes like the adhesion of printer ink, the manufacture of devices based on thin films, as well as phenomena like salt damage in brick and the dissolving of pharmaceuticals in the human body.

Drying droplets of solid-laden solution often leaves large, uneven chunks deposited at the edge. This is a fairly common sight; take the ring-like deposits left by spilt coffee. This so-called coffee ring effect is a result of different rates of evaporation on the top and at the edge of droplets, leading to a flow inside the droplet which drives an accumulation of solid particles at the edge. Ultimately, the droplet edge retracts, leaving a deposited ring. Though this effect is useful in concentrating the solute, it can be a nuisance when we are after a uniform coating.

Yet, a team from Tokyo Metropolitan University led by Associate Professor Rei Kurita showed that the same effect can be leveraged to achieve a very different effect. By artificially adding microscopic latex particles to droplets of salt solution, they found that the coffee ring effect took particles to the edge which subsequently pinned the droplet rim, keeping the droplet circular for the whole duration of the drying process as the salt re-crystallized. This led to the formation of beautiful, snowflake-like patterns, including dendritic, radial and concentric geometries, depending on temperature and humidity. The variety of behavior they uncovered is in stark contrast to the random re-crystallized chunks observed in drying droplets without these particulate additions. By systematically varying initial salt concentration and evaporation rate, they found that they could tune the morphology. High initial concentrations and slower vaporization led to radial patterns, while the opposite led to ridged, concentric patterns.

Further to the promise of new ways of artificially controlling drying in a wide range of industrial processes, the team hopes to build on their success to gain a deeper understanding of the mechanisms behind the dynamic processes underpinning this fascinating phenomenon.

Each year, fishermen harvest more than $500 million worth of Atlantic sea scallops from the waters off the east coast of the United States. A new model created by scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), however, predicts that those fisheries may potentially be in danger. As levels of carbon dioxide increase in the Earth's atmosphere, the upper oceans become increasingly acidic--a condition that could reduce the sea scallop population by more than 50% in the next 30 to 80 years, under a worst-case scenario. Strong fisheries management and efforts to reduce CO2 emissions, however, might slow or even stop that trend.

The model, published in the journal PLoS One, combines existing data and models of four major factors: future climate change scenarios, ocean acidification impacts, fisheries management policies, and fuel costs for fishermen.

"What's novel about our work is that it brings together models of changing ocean environments as well as human responses" says Jennie Rheuban, the lead author of the study. "It combines socioeconomic decision making, ocean chemistry, atmospheric carbon dioxide, economic development and fisheries management. We tried to create a holistic view of how environmental changes might play out across different aspects of the sea scallop fishery," she notes.

Since the oceans can absorb more than a quarter of all excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, fossil fuel carbon emissions can cause a dip in ocean pH as well. That acidity can corrode the calcium carbonate shells that are made by shellfish like clams, oysters, and scallops, and even prevent their larvae from forming shells in the first place.

According to Rheuban, no existing studies have been published that can show the specific effects of ocean acidification on the Atlantic sea scallop. To estimate its impact in the model, she and her colleagues incorporated a range of effects based on studies of related shellfish species. Combined with estimates of changing water chemistry, this new model lets scientists explore how plausible impacts of ocean acidification may change the future of the scallop population.

Rheuban and colleagues tested four different levels of impact in each of the four different factors influencing the model, ultimately creating 256 different scenario combinations.One group of scenarios looks at possible pathways of how ocean acidification may impact scallop biology. Another examines different levels of atmospheric CO2, including one future where emissions continue to skyrocket, and one where they fall due to aggressive climate change policy. A third set includes a range of future fuel costs, which themselves are related to climate change policies. Higher fuel costs, Rheuban notes, can lead to fewer active fishing days, reducing stress on the fishery itself, but also reducing profitability and revenues of the industry. The fourth and final set involves different federal fisheries management techniques.

Fishing policies for some shellfish, like oyster, clams, and bay scallops, are regulated by state or local governments, each of which follows its own set of rules. Sea scallop fisheries, however, are located well offshore in a region stretching from Virginia to Maine, so are regulated mostly by the federal government. With only one set of rules covering most sea scallop fisherman, it's possible to fit them into the model.

"The current sea scallop fishery is so healthy and valuable today in part because it is very well managed," says Scott Doney, a co-author from WHOI and the University of Virginia. "We also used the model to ask whether management approaches could offset the negative impacts of ocean acidification."

In all of the model's possible scenarios, high levels of CO2 in the atmosphere consistently led to increased ocean acidification and fewer sea scallops, despite introducing stricter management rules or even closing part of the fishery entirely.

"The model highlights the potential risks to sea scallops and likely other commercial shellfish fisheries of unabated carbon emissions to the atmosphere" adds Doney.

Over the next 100 years, under the worst-case ocean acidification impacts, the model's 'business-as-usual' scenario shows a sea scallop decline of more than 50%, while a scenario with proactive climate policy shows only a 13% reduction.

"The model shows that reductions in fossil fuel emissions due to climate policy might have a big impact on the sea scallop fishery," concludes Rheuban.

A new outbreak of a rare but preventable eye infection that can cause blindness, has been identified in contact lens wearers in a new study led by UCL and Moorfields Eye Hospital researchers.

The research team found a threefold increase in Acanthamoeba keratitis since 2011 in South-East England.

Reusable contact lens wearers with the eye infection are more likely to have used an ineffective contact lens solution, have contaminated their lenses with water or reported poor contact lens hygiene, according to the findings published today in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.
"This infection is still quite rare, usually affecting 2.5 in 100,000 contact lens users per year in South East England, but it's largely preventable. This increase in cases highlights the need for contact lens users to be aware of the risks," said the study's lead author, Professor John Dart (UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust).

Acanthamoeba keratitis is an eye disease that causes the front surface of the eye, the cornea, to become painful and inflamed, due to infection by Acanthamoeba, a cyst-forming microorganism.

The most severely affected patients (a quarter of the total) have less than 25% of vision or become blind following the disease and face prolonged treatment. Overall 25% of people affected require corneal transplants to treat the disease or restore vision.

Anyone can be infected, but contact lens users face the highest risk, due to a combination of increased susceptibility to infection, for reasons not fully established, as a result of contact lens wear and contamination of lens cases.

The researchers collected incidence data from Moorfields Eye Hospital, from 1985 to 2016. They found an increase dating from 2000-2003, when there were eight to 10 cases per year, to between 36-65 annual cases in the past few years. As Moorfields treats more than one in three cases of the disease in the UK, the researchers expect their findings are relevant to the UK more broadly.

Alongside these findings, they conducted a case-control study of people who wear reusable contact lenses on a daily basis (although the disease is also associated with disposable lenses), comparing those who had a diagnosis of Acanthamoeba keratitis to those who had come in to Moorfields A&E for any other reason, from 2011 to 2014.

The case-control study included 63 people with Acanthamoeba keratitis and 213 without. They all completed a questionnaire, from which the researchers found that the risk of developing the disease was more than three times greater amongst people with poor contact lens hygiene, people who did not always wash and dry their hands before handling their lenses, those who used a lens disinfectant product containing Oxipol (now phased out by the manufacturer), and for people who wore their contacts while in swimming pools or hot tubs. Showering and face washing while wearing contact lenses are also likely to be risk factors.

Acanthamoeba is more commonly found in the UK than in other countries, likely due to higher levels found in domestic (as opposed to mains) water supplies, so that water contamination of contact lenses is of particular concern in the UK.

The researchers say the current outbreak is unlikely to be due to any one of the identified risk factors in isolation.

"People who wear reusable contact lenses need to make sure they thoroughly wash and dry their hands before handling contact lenses, and avoid wearing them while swimming, face washing or bathing. Daily disposable lenses, which eliminate the need for contact lens cases or solutions, may be safer and we are currently analysing our data to establish the risk factors for these," said Professor Dart.

"We now need to share this information as widely as possible with clinicians, contact lens practitioners and contact lens wearers, a strategy that has proved effective in the past in decreasing the incidence and burden of this severe eye infection," said co-author Dr Nicole Carnt, who completed the study at Moorfields before moving to the University of New South Wales.
"This research confirms what those of us affected by Acanthamoeba keratitis have suspected for some time: that incidences of this awful, life-changing infection are on the increase, and there's more that should be done to prevent people from losing their sight to Acanthamoeba keratitis," said Irenie Ekkeshis, who is part of Acanthamoeba Keratitis Patient Support Group UK.
"It is absolutely imperative that regulators and those working in the optical sector take the findings seriously, and use the recommendations to take immediate and urgent action on prevention. Contact lenses are medical devices and should be supplied with warnings regarding safe use."

A new special issue of SLAS Technology showcases life sciences researchers who are pioneering the use of powerful yet accessible and low-cost IoT technologies in their laboratories. Ten articles illustrate how IoT is being used to optimize factors such as throughput, cost, uptime and result quality.

Articles include descriptions of how to use IoT to monitor, optimize and re-design laboratory systems by tracking laboratory activities; making instruments smarter; and creating purpose-built laboratory instruments.

Following an introduction by guest editor James M. Gill, II, Ph.D. (BFLConsulting, Madison, CT), authors from Germany, India, Switzerland and the United States explore:

The Internet-of-Things is Digitizing and Transforming Science

End to End Sample Tracking in the Laboratory using a Custom Internet-Of-Things Device

Achieving Reproducibility and Closed Loop Automation in Biological Experimentation with an IoT-Enabled Lab of the Future

Engineering Novel Lab Devices Using 3D Printing and Microcontrollers

Designing a Low-Cost, Single-Supply ECG System for Suppression of Movement Artifact from Contaminated Magnetocardiogram

IoT for Real-Time Measurement of High-Throughput Liquid Dispensing in Laboratory Environments

Portable Systems for Metered Dispensing of Aggressive Liquids

Arduino-Based Novel Hardware Design for Liquid Helium Level Measurement

Introducing a Virtual Assistant to the Lab: A Voice User Interface for the Intuitive Control of Laboratory Instruments

MVO Automation Platform: Addressing Unmet Needs in Clinical Laboratories with Microcontrollers, 3D Printing, and Open-Source Hardware/Software

Most patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are treated with a "one-size-fits-all" protocol that is not tailored to each person's physiology and may leave many cases inadequately managed. A new study by scientists at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) indicates that inherited genetic changes may underlie the variability observed among patients in the clinic, with several pathophysiological processes potentially leading to high blood sugar and its resulting consequences.

By analyzing genomic data with a computational tool that incorporates genetic complexity, the researchers identified five distinct groups of DNA sites that appear to drive distinct forms of the illness in unique ways.

The work represents a first step toward using genetics to identify subtypes of type 2 diabetes, which could help physicians prescribe interventions aimed at the cause of the disease, rather than just the symptoms.

The study appears in PLOS Medicine.

"When treating type 2 diabetes, we have a dozen or so medications we can use, but after you start someone on the standard algorithm, it's primarily trial and error," said senior author Jose Florez, an endocrinologist at MGH, co-director of the Broad's Metabolism Program, and professor at Harvard Medical School. "We need a more granular approach that addresses the many different molecular processes leading to high blood sugar."

It's known that type 2 diabetes can be broadly grouped into cases driven either by the inability of pancreatic beta cells to make enough insulin, known as insulin deficiency, or by the inability of liver, muscle or fat tissues to use insulin properly, known as insulin resistance.

Previous research attempted to define more subtypes of type 2 diabetes based on indicators such as beta-cell function, insulin resistance, or body-mass index, but those traits can vary greatly through life and during the course of disease. Inherited genetic differences are present at birth, and so a more reliable method would be to create subtypes based on DNA variations that have been associated with diabetes risk in large-scale genetic studies. These variations can be grouped into clusters based on how they impact diabetes-related traits; for example, genetic changes linked to high triglyceride levels are likely to work through the same biological processes.

Early efforts to do so used a "hard-clustering" approach, in which each genetic variation was assigned to only one cluster. However, this failed to produce patterns that made biological sense.

Miriam Udler, an endocrinologist at MGH and postdoctoral researcher in the Florez lab, took another approach. She teamed up with Gaddy Getz and Jaegil Kim of the Broad's Cancer Genomics team to apply a "soft-clustering" approach known as Bayesian non-negative matrix factorization, which allows each variant to fall into more than one cluster.

"The soft-clustering method is better for studying complex diseases, in which disease-related genetic sites may regulate not just one gene or process, but several," said Udler.

The new work revealed five clusters of genetic variants distinguished by distinct underlying cellular processes, within the existing major divisions of insulin-resistant and insulin-deficient disease. Two of these clusters contain variants that suggest beta cells aren't working properly, but that differ in their impacts on levels of the insulin precursor, proinsulin. The other three clusters contain DNA variants related to insulin resistance, including one cluster mediated by obesity, one defined by disrupted metabolism of fats in the liver, and one driven by defects in the distribution of fat within the body, known as lipodystrophy.

To confirm these observations, the team analyzed data from the National Institutes of Health's Roadmap Epigenomics Project, a public resource of epigenomic data for biology and disease research. They found that the genes contained in the clusters were more active in the tissue types one would expect.

To further test whether each cluster had been assigned the correct biological mechanism, the researchers gathered data from four independent cohorts of patients with type 2 diabetes and first calculated the patients' individual genetic risk scores for each cluster. They found nearly a third of patients scored highly for only one predominant cluster, suggesting that their diabetes may be driven predominantly by a single biological mechanism.

When they next analyzed measurements of diabetes-related traits from high-scoring subjects, they saw patterns that strongly reflected the suspected biological mechanism and distinguished them from all other patients with type 2 diabetes - for example, patients who fell into the obesity-mediated cluster were indeed found to have increased body-mass index and body fat percentage.

The results appear to reflect some of the diversity observed by endocrinologists in the clinic. For example, people who scored high on the lipodystrophy-like cluster were likely to be thinner than average but have insulin-resistant diabetes, similar to a rare type of diabetes in which fat accumulates in the liver, which is a fundamentally different process from insulin resistance that results from obesity.

"The clusters from our study seem to recapitulate what we observe in clinical practice," said Florez. "Now we need to determine whether these clusters translate to differences in disease progression, complications, and response to treatment."

In addition to paving the way to clinically useful subtypes, the work sheds light on the diverse pathophysiology underlying type 2 diabetes and offers a model for unraveling the heterogeneity of other complex diseases.

"This study has given us the most comprehensive view to date of the genetic pathways underlying a common illness, which if not adequately treated can lead to devastating complications," said Udler. "We're excited to see how our approach can help researchers make steps towards precision medicine for other illnesses as well."

Sept. 21, 2018--Burning wood or coal to cook food is associated with increased risk of hospitalization or dying from respiratory diseases, according to new research conducted in China and published online in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

About three billion people around the world live in households that regularly burn wood, coal or other solid fuels to cook their food. Solid fuels emit very high levels of pollutants, especially very small particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs. Typically, these households are found in the rural areas of low- and middle-income countries. Although China is rapidly urbanizing, one third of its population still relies on solid fuels.

In "Solid Fuel Use and Risks of Respiratory Diseases: A Cohort Study of 280,000 Chinese Never-Smokers," researchers from the Oxford University in the United Kingdom and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences report that chronic and acute respiratory disease hospitalizations or deaths were 36 percent higher among those who used wood or coal for cooking compared to those who used electricity or gas.

The researchers also report that the longer people used solid fuels, the higher the risk of hospitalization or death from a respiratory disease than those who cooked with gas or electricity. Those who used wood or coal for 40 years or longer, had a 54 percent higher risk of hospitalization or death from respiratory disease, while those who switched from solid fuels to clean-burning fuels reduced their risk to only 14 percent higher than those who never cooked with wood or coal.

The researchers adjusted their findings to account for age, sex, socio-economic status, passive smoking, alcohol drinking, diet, physical activity and obesity.

The study reviewed the health records of 280,000 adults, age 30 to 79, in the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB). The participants were from 10 areas of the country, had never smoked and were free of respiratory and other major chronic diseases when they enrolled in the study. They were followed for nine years. During that time, 19,823 were either hospitalized or died from a major respiratory disease. Of these events, 10,553 were due to asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and 7,324 were due to acute lower respiratory infections, most often pneumonia.

"While many previous studies have suggested a link between solid fuel use and COPD, most of them focused on changes in lung function, rather than hospital admissions or deaths," said lead author Ka Hung Chan, MSc, a doctoral student at the University of Oxford's Nuffield Department of Population Health. "In addition, we looked at the associations with other respiratory diseases about which little is known."

Compared to other studies that have found a two- to three-fold increase in COPD among those burning wood or coal in their cookstoves, the authors noted that their research found a weaker association between burning wood or coal in a cookstove and COPD.

Kin Bong Hubert Lam, PhD, an associate professor at Oxford University who co-led this study, said several factors may explain this, including the fact that COPD is underdiagnosed in China, particularly in rural areas, where spirometry, an essential diagnostic tool in COPD, is rarely available. The weaker association found in their study "could also be due to concurrent exposure to wood or coal smoke among clean fuel users that our study was unable to measure, especially among those who lived in communities where solid fuel use is common," he added.

According to Zhengming Chen, MBBS, DPhil, senior author and professor of epidemiology at the Nuffield Department of Population Health, the study's most important finding may be that the increased risk of major respiratory diseases posed by burning wood or coal can be significantly lowered by switching to a clean-burning fuel.

"Although we cannot infer a causal relationship from these observational findings, our findings make a compelling case to speed up the global implementation of universal access to affordable clean energy, one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals," he said.

ATLANTA--Commitment to democratic values is the strongest predictor of climate change concern globally, Georgia State University faculty have found in a new study comparing climate change attitudes across 36 countries, including the U.S.

The article, published this month in Environmental Politics, was based on an analysis of the Pew Research Center's 2015 Global Attitudes Survey by professor Gregory Lewis, chair of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies' Department of Public Management and Policy; Risa Palm, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Georgia State; and Bo Feng with IMPAQ International.

"The biggest surprise in this study is the strength of the Pew measure of commitment to democratic values as a predictor of climate change concern," Lewis said. "A belief in free elections, freedom of religion, equal rights for women, freedom of speech, freedom of the press and lack of Internet censorship is nearly universal in predicting this attitude. In fact, it is the strongest predictor of climate change concern everywhere except in English-speaking Western democracies, where party identification matters more."

Earlier research in the U.S. points to political ideology and party identification as driving opinions on climate change. The new study shows fairly similar patterns across English-speaking western democracies and, to a lesser extent, western Europe. However, these factors matter much less in most countries. Gender, age, education and religiosity also have very different impacts in the developed West than in most of the world.

"U.S. patterns differ widely from those in most countries," Lewis said. "We found that members of the left and liberal parties worry more about the effects of climate change than members of conservative parties in Western democracies, but that's not so in the rest of the world. Women, young people and those who are less religious express greater concern about climate change in the English-speaking Western democracies. In most of the world, however, gender differences are small, and older and more religious people express more concern."

These disparities suggest the need for more research in other countries and stronger explanations for the patterns observed there and in the U.S.

"Climate impacts follow no national boundaries, so solutions must be global," Lewis said. "However, most of the survey research has focused on the U.S., where political ideology and party identification drive opinion. We need to gain a clearer understanding of those who take climate change seriously versus those who doubt it exists in other countries, as well as in the U.S. This knowledge will help all policymakers address the populations most likely to support climate change mitigation efforts and develop the messaging most effective in reaching them."

Land-based bird populations are becoming confined to nature reserves in some parts of the world - raising the risk of global extinction - due to the loss of suitable habitat, according to a report led by UCL.

Researchers analysed biodiversity in the area known as Sundaland, which covers the peninsula of Thailand, Borneo, Malaysia, Sumatra, Java and Bali, one of the world's most biologically degraded regions.

The study, published today in Conservation Letters, focuses on galliformes - heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds such as pheasants, grouse and quail - as their numbers are well-recorded and they are amongst the most threatened species in some parts of the world.

Scientists found that up to 13 populations (25 per cent of galliform populations in the area) have been extirpated (made locally extinct) in the region and no longer exist outside nature reserves (protected areas). The island of Sumatra has suffered the highest proportion of extirpations among the areas studied, having lost 50 percent of its galliform species in unprotected land.

As a result, certain species are only found in protected areas - raising questions about the ultimate goal of conservation. The researchers argue that these areas were never intended to be a last resort for the existence of species and are also coming under increasing threat from human activity.

Professor Elizabeth Boakes (UCL Life Sciences) said: "Land outside of protected areas is increasingly being lost to agriculture and infrastructure, leading to species becoming confined to Sundaland's protected areas. Biodiversity in the unprotected landscape is required to maintain connectivity and ecosystem function.

"It is also critical that protected areas are managed effectively. However, nearly 20 per cent of Malaysia's and over 40 per cent of Indonesia's protected land is subject to intense human pressure.

"As one of the most biologically degraded areas, Sundaland offers a stark warning to the rest of the world should global rates of land conversion continue unabated. Conservation's end goal is not islands of biodiversity, marooned in a sea of destruction. More land must be managed in a way that accommodates biodiversity for the long term."

Sundaland is a biological hotspot, meaning it is rich in biodiversity but at risk of destruction. Despite the existence of protected areas, forest cover in Sumatra declined by five per cent between 1990 and 2000, while Kalimantan's protected lowland forests declined by more than 56 per cent between 1985 and 2001.

In addition to this, protected areas are not necessarily permanent, with downgrading over the last few years equating to a loss of 8360km² of protected land. As they become more isolated in agricultural landscapes or by the spread of roads and other infrastructure, species lose the opportunity to track and adapt to climate change.

An example of this is that just 12 per cent of Borneo's protected areas are topographically diverse enough to allow species to survive a high warming scenario.

Dr Philip McGowan, Newcastle University School of Natural and Environmental Sciences and Chair of IUCN Species Survival Commission Task Force on post 2020 biodiversity targets said: "These findings present new insights into how we should view protected areas and their ability to conserve species across landscapes.

"At a time when there is debate about how much land should be given over to protected areas, it is how they are integrated into global biodiversity targets that is perhaps critical. These targets are currently being reviewed by the Convention on Biological Diversity, which is also discussing what should follow them when they expire in 2020."

Southeast Asia's deforestation rate is the highest among tropical regions, above five per cent annually in parts of Sumatra and Sarawak. Sundaland's lowland forests are rapidly disappearing, giving us an insight into the future global conservation status of the remainder of the world if land outside of protected areas continues to be lost, putting the reserves at increased risk from climate change and human activity.

The report was led by UCL Life Sciences, with the University of Queensland School of Biological Sciences and Newcastle University School of Natural and Environmental Sciences. The research was funded by the Leverhulme Trust.

Enthusiasm for an emerging digital health tool, the smart pill, is on the rise but researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have published a paper in the American Journal of Bioethics that cautions health care providers and policymakers to slow down when it comes to allowing this technology in patient care settings.

Smart pills, or digital pills, are prescription medications equipped with edible electronic sensors that send wireless messages to devices, like patches and smartphones or tablets, outside the body when they are ingested. The first of its kind, which is used to treat patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder, was approved for use in humans by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2017.

Some hope the technology will help patients and doctors track drug regimen compliance and increase patient adherence, which estimates show may save between $100 and $300 billion annually in the U.S. Others have concerns about patient privacy, consent and data sharing.

Eric Swirsky, an expert in the legal and ethical issues related to health care technology, says that both groups have valid arguments but that neither is asking the right question.

"We need to know if smart pills are going to actually improve patients' lives, which is much more complicated than compliance or privacy," said Swirsky, clinical associate professor of biomedical and health information sciences in the UIC College of Applied Health Sciences. "It is naive to think that this type of surveilled compliance with provider-recommended drug treatments will function like a magic pill. More likely, it will just challenge the ingenuity of patients."

Swirsky said there is simply no evidence yet to suggest smart pills benefit patients and that using the technology outside of clinical trials "flies in the face of the research we do currently have, which shows that patients benefit by receiving care from providers who can manage the many issues around adherence."

"Smart pills are a dangerous reduction of the provider-patient relationship and there is no shortcut to improving patient adherence, which happens in a larger framework of home, work and clinical environments, not to mention perceptions and emotions," Swirsky said. "This technology dumbs down an issue that is often very complex in the hopes of quickly solving an expensive medical challenge."

For example, the first FDA-approved smart pill is being used in patients with schizophrenia, who often suffer from paranoia about being surveilled and distrust of medication or care providers. Swirsky said the intent to improve medication adherence in this group of patients is understandable, given that many patients see remarkable benefits from consistent medication use, but it is arguably unethical considering their unique symptoms and vulnerabilities.

The researchers warn that smart pills should be evaluated based on their clinical efficacy against the standard of care drugs, like any other intervention, not based only on compliance or cost savings.

Swirsky co-authored the paper with his UIC colleague Andrew Boyd, who says that when it comes to health information technology, "we need to think about the long game."

"It's not just about return on investment - it's about using technology and data in a way that changes lives for the better," said Boyd, associate professor of biomedical and health information sciences in the UIC College of Applied Health Sciences. "There is nothing more personal than our health, and as health care strives for high-tech innovation, we cannot do it at the expense of trust between provider and patient."

Use of this type of data-based technology, Boyd said, should also not outpace public policy and legislation in properly regulating how this data is shared, used or purchased by companies.

"Health information technology functions best when implemented in conjunction with doctors and patients in a collaborative manner," the researchers write. "With no magic pill to cure the ills of the modern doctor-patient relationship, patients would be better served by providers who seek a comprehensive understanding of adherence than those who employ technology they do not understand."

It's time to bring in laws to ban the sale of caffeinated energy drinks to children and young people in England to tackle the twin epidemics of obesity and mental health problems, argues Professor Russell Viner, President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in The BMJ today.

Children and young people in high income countries consume more sugar and calories than required and are therefore unlikely to need additional energy. This combined with regular caffeine consumption is concerning, explains Viner, as there is little evidence of the effect caffeine could potentially have on the developing body.

In a 2014 survey of over 5000 children in England 14% of 11-15 year olds reported consuming energy drinks at least two to four times a week, and 5% of all young people reported drinking energy drinks daily. The high sugar content in many of these drinks (as much as 27g of sugar per 250ml serving) "undoubtedly contributes to the overall calorie excess and resultant obesity epidemic among our children," he writes.

Caffeine is probably the most commonly used psychoactive drug across the world as it increases activity and heightens attention and awareness. But caffeine also increases anxiety, reduces sleep and is linked with behavioural problems in children, adds Viner. Recent studies also show that it may have concerning effects on the developing brain.

Yet surprisingly little is known about the safety profile of caffeine. Energy drinks can contain at least 320 mg/L of caffeine and evidence is emerging that consumption of energy drinks among children and young people is associated with anxiety, depression, sensation seeking, and increased hyperactivity and inattention.

This is alarming, says Viner, because psychological distress can lead to risky behaviours like drug use, and poorer academic attainment.

But perhaps most concerning are the effects on sleep, he says - a clear inverse association has been established between consumption of caffeinated energy drinks and sleep duration. Humans get energy naturally from a "good diet, refreshing sleep, exercise and, most importantly, interaction with other people", he writes.

He points out that many UK supermarkets have now banned the sale of caffeinated energy drinks to under 16s, and several countries have bans in place. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health support these restrictions, alongside an evaluation of the effect that these policies have on young people's purchasing habits, and their health.

Viner believes the government's consultation must drive a search for improved evidence, but concludes "there is now sufficient evidence to act to protect children."

New Rochelle, NY, September 19, 2018-- Recently, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) called for the eliminating involvement of the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC) in human gene therapy experiments, marking the end of an era of federal government oversight. While the RAC played an essential role in helping human gene therapy research evolve to where it is today, James M. Wilson, MD, PhD, Editor, Human Gene Therapy Clinical Development, believes this is the right moment for it to exit the stage, as he explains in his Editorial "The RAC Retires After a Job Well Done," Human Gene Therapy Clinical Development, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. Click here to read the full-text article free on the Human Gene Therapy Clinical Development website through October 19, 2018.

The RAC initially set guidelines for DNA research, and its role was later expanded to en-compass the review and approval of human gene therapy research. The Committee was composed of stakeholders, including basic scientists, physicians, ethicists, theologians, and patients advocates. "The deliberations often became theatrical and, at times, quite contentious," says Dr. Wilson. Over the years, as the field of human gene therapy ma-tured and became more integrated into the biopharmaceutical industry the potential re-dundancies between the roles of the FDA and the RAC became an increasingly important issue.

"The 2018 proposal...is to completely eliminate the RAC's role in reviewing or monitor-ing human gene therapy studies," says Dr. Wilson. "The new recommendations retain the role of local Institutional Biosafety Committees in the review process, while limiting their evaluation to an assessment of biosafety risks."

Public Health England (PHE) has failed to learn the lessons over its partnership with the drinks industry, warn public health experts in The BMJ today.

Last week, Ian Gilmore, a senior government adviser on alcohol policy, stepped down from his role at PHE after the agency partnered with Drinkaware, an alcohol education charity that receives funding from industry, for a new campaign encouraging middle aged people to have more alcohol-free days per week.

In an editorial for The BMJ, Gilmore and colleagues John Britton and Linda Bauld point out that voluntary agreements with the tobacco industry in the second half of the 20th century served to "undermine, dilute or constrain measures designed to curtail their activities."

By entering into a voluntary agreement with Drinkaware, "PHE appear to have fallen victim to the delusion that a new partnership with the alcohol industry will somehow avoid the same fate," they write. "In so doing they tread a path that, at least to those who have worked in tobacco policy, is depressingly familiar," they add.

They question the campaign's two alcohol-free days per week target as "a somewhat modest interpretation of current UK Chief Medical Officers advice, which refers to 'several' alcohol-free days each week."

And they note that the campaign is badged as part of the broader One You campaign, which includes advice on smoking, physical activity and other 'lifestyle' determinants of health, "thus linking an alcohol industry-funded body with wider health messaging."

Finally, they point out that senior PHE managers do not appear to have asked themselves why the alcohol industry is happy to fund a campaign that ostensibly aims to reduce alcohol consumption. Had they done so, they say the answer would be because it thinks the campaign will be ineffective, or will divert attention from other more effective policies to reduce alcohol consumption that the industry fears more, such as minimum unit pricing.

More importantly, however, through Drinkaware, "the alcohol industry gains valuable engagement with PHE, establishes working relations with PHE staff, and may even secure a seat at the table when other alcohol harm initiatives are planned and executed," they explain.

It is right that the alcohol and other harmful commodity industries pay to prevent and treat harm caused by their products, they say, but payment "must be made through statutory levies, not voluntary agreements."

This new campaign backed by high profile individuals telling drinkers to drink less "is all well and good," says Tony Rao, Visiting Researcher at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, in a linked article. "But skirting around and dumbing down the specifics of existing guidelines does not bode well for providing a consistent health message to the public."

He warns that, if we cannot maintain our government to observe the principle of being at 'arm's length' from the drinks industry, "we wander into a storm that has the potential to capsize public health and all that it represents."

Researchers at King's College London have discovered a vicious feedback loop underlying brain degeneration in Alzheimer's disease which may explain why so many drug trials have failed. The study also identifies a clinically approved drug which breaks the vicious cycle and protects against memory-loss in animal models of Alzheimer's.

Overproduction of the protein beta-amyloid is strongly linked to development of Alzheimer's disease but many drugs targeting beta-amyloid have failed in clinical trials. Beta-amyloid attacks and destroys synapses - the connections between nerve cells in the brain - resulting in memory problems, dementia and ultimately death.

In the new study, published in Translational Psychiatry, researchers found that when beta-amyloid destroys a synapse, the nerve cells make more beta-amyloid driving yet more synapses to be destroyed.

"We show that a vicious positive feedback loop exists in which beta-amyloid drives its own production," says senior author Dr Richard Killick from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN). "We think that once this feedback loop gets out of control it is too late for drugs which target beta-amyloid to be effective, and this could explain why so many Alzheimer's drug trials have failed."

"Our work uncovers the intimate link between synapse loss and beta-amyloid in the earliest stages of Alzheimer's disease," says lead author Dr Christina Elliott from the IoPPN. "This is a major step forward in our understanding of the disease and highlights the importance of early therapeutic intervention."

The researchers also found that a protein called Dkk1, which potently stimulates production of beta-amyloid, is central to the positive feedback loop. Previous research by Dr Killick and colleagues identified Dkk1 as a central player in Alzheimer's, and while Dkk1 is barely detectable in the brains of young adults its production increases as we age.

Instead of targeting beta-amyloid itself, the researchers believe targeting Dkk1 could be a better way to halt the progress of Alzheimer's disease by disrupting the vicious cycle of beta-amyloid production and synapse loss.

"Importantly, our work has shown that we may already be in a position to block the feedback loop with a drug called fasudil which is already used in Japan and China for stroke." says Dr Killick. "We have convincingly shown that fasudil can protect synapses and memory in animal models of Alzheimer's, and at the same time reduces the amount of beta-amyloid in the brain."

The researchers found that in mice engineered to develop large deposits of beta-amyloid in their brains as they age, just two weeks of treatment with fasudil dramatically reduced the beta-amyloid deposits.

Researchers at King's College London are now seeking funding to run a trial in early stage sufferers of Alzheimer's to determine if fasudil improves brain health and prevents cognitive decline.

Professor Dag Aarsland from the IoPPN said "As well as being a safe drug, fasudil appears to enter the brain in sufficient quantity to potentially be an effective treatment against beta-amyloid. We now need to move this forward to a clinical trial in people with early stage Alzheimer's disease as soon as possible."

New research suggests that there may be a link between higher levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the environment and higher levels of hyperthyroidism in pet cats as they age. The findings are published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.

PFAS are a family of more than 3,000 structures of highly fluorinated chemicals used in industrial processes and consumer products, such as protective coatings for carpets, furniture and apparel, paper coatings, insecticide formulations, and other items.

The study involved analyses of blood samples from older cats in Northern California. Investigators examined the animals' exposures to PFAS and compared PFAS levels between cats with and without hyperthyroidism, a very common endocrine disorder in senior cats. ?

"Our lab has been investigating PFAS for years. Cats can be good sentinels to examine body burdens of emerging pollutants, including PFAS," said lead author Dr. Miaomiao Wang, of the California Environmental Protection Agency. "The current study is only preliminary, however, and larger scale studies might be helpful to confirm our findings."

Calcium carbonate is found nearly everywhere, in sidewalk cement, wall paint, antacid tablets and deep underground. Engineers at Washington University in St. Louis have used a unique set of state-of-the-art imaging techniques to discover how calcium carbonate nanoparticles nucleate, which is important for those manufacturing the carbonate nanomaterials and controlling metal carbonation during CO2 sequestration.

Young-Shin Jun, professor of energy, environmental & chemical engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, and Quingun Li, a former doctoral student in her lab, are the first to measure the activation energy and kinetic factors of calcium carbonate's nucleation, both key to predicting and controlling the process. Nucleation is the initial step in forming a solid phase in a fluid system, such as sugar crystals forming on string to make rock candy. Results of the research are published in Communications Chemistry Sept. 19.

Jun, an expert in the nucleation of solids, and her team explored ways to govern the speed and location of nucleation, as well as the shape of the emerging solids.

"Our sensitivity test shows which synthesis conditions accelerate nucleation more effectively," she said. "Should we change the driving force by increasing the concentration of certain ion, or should we change the surface properties of the material or the system's temperature? Now we can predict this outcome."

Previously, when scientists described nucleation, they described the number of events occurring in a cubic or square meter every minute or every hour, but that did not give a full picture of the chemistry, Jun explained. With the new information, Jun and her team can say definitively how concentrated the calcium carbonate nanoparticles are in a given space over a given time period, which allows them to control nucleation. Until now, these thermodynamic and kinetic factors have remained unknown because real-time observations are difficult to perform on particles so small: The very first size of the calcium carbonate particles forming on quartz are about 8 nanometers, or 8 billionths of a meter, in diameter. Previous research in this area has been performed mainly with molecular modeling, which has been inadequate to reveal the kinetic factors of nucleation.

In experiments at Argonne National Laboratory, Jun's group used small angle X-ray scattering for in situ probing of the nanoparticles. In her lab at Washington University, they used atomic force microscopy for ex situ imaging of calcium carbonate nucleating on quartz.

"Knowing about nucleation empowers us to create nanomaterials and allows us to control nanoparticle properties and surface functionalization of materials, helping sustainable nanomanufacturing," Jun said. "Deciphering nucleation also aids in designing larger-scale engineering processes where nucleation changes the macroscopic properties of materials. Every single material starts with nucleation, so this process can be applicable to anything. We now understand the 'start' better."